My Top Ten Tips for Tempera Painting with Young Artists!

Hey there, friends! I hope this here blog post finds you enjoying your summer vacation if you are stateside! I know the last thing you probably wanna think about is TEMPERA PAINT...but I always find it much more relaxing to thing about art, organization, lessons and the like when I'm on a break. So I created a big ole video just for you with my very favorite tips and tricks. 

Be sure and subscribe as I have more videos coming your way! 

But before we do...if you would like to peruse some tempera painting lessons, I did put together a blog post of my 20 favorite painting projects here. Not all of these are tempera paint but many are and will, hopefully, get the creative art teacherin' wheels turnin'. Just click here!

Tip #1: Limit those color palettes!

I like to distribute paint with a couple of customized paint trays. For example, on the first day I paint with kindergarten, they all receive a tray of warm color paint. On the next, it may be cool color. This helps keep our paint trays from getting completely demolished by students who are new to learning my painting routines. This method also allows students to learn the warm/cool colors as well as the notion of analogous colors. 

As far as paint goes, I'm using Prang's Tempera Paint. You can find it here. 

Tip #2: Ice cube trays for distributing paint!

My favorite way to distribute paint is...ice cube trays! I've been doing this since my first year teaching way back in 1998. Back then, we didn't have fancy ice cube trays like these. I had to do the stack-and-sack method of stacking my trays and putting them in plastic garbage bags overnight. Thankfully, we have these neat trays that do an excellent job of keeping paint from drying out.

You can find these lidded ice cube trays, my personal favorite, here.

Tip #3: Water Containers that Don't Tip!

Nothing sucks the life out of a good ole painting party like a water cup spill. You can find dog dishes like mine at the Dollar Tree. I also found them for a heftier price tag here.

What  I love about them is that no only do they not tip but they also have a spot for my sponges. The sponge is where my students dry their brushes, further removing drippy water from their brush. What I don't love about these is that the water reservoir is shallow and I have to change out the water between classes. So...it's a trade off. If you don't use the sponges or want a deeper water cup, I also love these:

They legit don't spill!

AND they come in a rainbow assortment which is fun if you color code your tables. I also love the wavy rim for resting paintbrushes.

If you are looking for a way to have students really scrub their brush while cleaning it, you could get some of these Paint Pucks to suction into the bottom of the watercup. OR...you could also use your glue gun and put dots of glue at the bottom of the glue cup and that would do the same thing!

Tip #4: A sponge to further clean the brush!

Or, as we call it, Dirty Ole Sponge Bob. If you teach students my trick of drawing an X on the sponge, it will help them remember to wipe their paintbrush AND keep the tip nice and pointy. You can find sponges at the Dollar Tree or you can also find them here. 

Tip #5: Contain the mess with TRAYS!

Okay, so these trays are a little expensive BUT they are super thick and sturdy which means they will be able to handle the weight of the painting supplies placed on them. However, I have purchased trays from Dollar Tree on their site and was able to purchase an entire box. The only thing is that if they don't have this available in store, you will have to pay for shipping. It's cheaper if you have them shipped to the store and pick up there. The Dollar Tree trays are much thinner and not as sturdy. But I loved them for having my young students create their artwork on. Not only did it help to capture and contain the mess but it also made it so much easier for them to carry their work to the drying rack.

Tip #6: Distribute paint without the mess!

FIFO bottles are a great way to get paint to your students without lugging a gallon of paint around the room. I also love them because you can customize and mix your own colors! You can find them here and learn more about them in the video if you aren't familiar. 

Tip #7: Texture combs are a must with tempera paint!

Thick tempera paint is made for texture! And while I used to love to pick up bags of texture making supplies at the dollar store what I found is that I spent so much time at the sink CLEANING. I eventually stopped using them and switched to the ole stand by: the texture comb. They are easy for kids to use without their hands getting too messy and, even better, they are much easier for ME to clean! I love 'em and they are constantly being used in my art room. Find them here. 

Tip #8: Cover those tables with Messy Mats!

We don't have time to wash the paint from our tables! I mean, we might have time but do we really wanna spend our time that way? For me, I had classes back to back with no time for cleaning so Messy Mats saved the day with keeping our tables covered and clean. You can color code them with this railboard found here. 

I also just like the ole standby of tagboard! You can buy a pack of 100 and it will last you for a couple years (maybe longer!) here. 

Tip #9: Clean those hands and tables with these!

I like to keep a bin of soapy water and a couple of these towels on each table. The kids know that they are ONLY to use these towels during clean up...otherwise you may have friends washing their hands throughout the lesson. I show them how to wring the water from the towel before using it on their hands and table. I swap these out with clean towels and water while the students work so each class has a fresh bin of water. These towels wash up great in the washing machine! 

Tip #10: Only buy the paint colors you need...and you don't need 'em all!

Share with your students how to mix paint so you don't have to buy them all! The colors you WILL want to order are: red, magenta, yellow, blue, turquoise (or cyan), white, black and brown. I usually order my paint by the gallon so we don't run out. You can find the paint I buy as well as anything I may have forgotten here.

As for paintbrushes, when I first began teaching, I used what I had in my art room: those coarse, long-handled bristle brushes. They usually wiped more paint OFF the paper than they did put it on! Now I only have students use soft hair brushes like these. 

And of course you need a copy of The Paintbrush Ballerina to share with your students how to use and care for their paintbrush! You can get a copy here. I also created some painting practice sheets that you might find handy as you introduce your students to painting!

These totally free downloads will have your students handling their paintbrush correctly in no time. Whether they are working with watercolor, tempra or tempra cakes, these sheets will save those paintbrushes! Find them free here. 

I created a video to share with you how I would use these sheets in my art room...I put them in a sheet protector so that students can practice painting with just water! More details here. 

I also created some fancy frames and even a certificate for your artists! Those freebies are here. 

Personally...you could tell me how to paint with children all day long but until I see how someone teaches it, I just don't get it. So! I thought I'd share a series of teaching tempera painting videos here. For lesson details, check out this blog post. 

Here's another example of me sharing a beginning of the school year paining lesson with students. Lesson details in this blog post!

Here's a video of my sharing my painting set up in my art room.

I hope this big ole blog post helps you feel more comfortable busting out the tempera paint in your art room. NOW...it's summer so go put those pjs back on, grab a snack and take a nap! 

It's here: ROUND Paper and Why It's the Best Thing EVER

Oh hey there, friends!

I hope this here blog post finds you either on summer vacation or getting dangerously close. Either way, you may find yourself asking "wait, why am I reading an art teacherin' blog?!" Because you are just so dedicated, that's why! Or delusional. Either way, welcome! 

You might know that I occasionally work with Prang Art Supplies to craft supplies for you and your students. A couple of years ago, when I was painstakingly cutting out circles for my students to use for Dot Day, with hands cramped, I reached out to my buddies at Prang and said,

"You know what would be REALLY great? If y'all made some round paper outta that good paper you have." 

And so...they did!

It's the perfect paper for Dot Day but also...ANYTHING that happens to be round! I thought I'd share not only my fave Dot Day lessons here (I'm only 6 months early as Dot Day is usually celebrated September 15th) but also a FREE download for your artists to brainstorm all the round things. 

But first, if you'd like to get your hands on this paper, you can find it here.

I created a FREE download for you and a video that will walk your students through drawing both a pizza and a donut! If you'd like that AND a free lesson plan, just click here!

For this FREE download, just click here!

Get started on your art making adventure here!

In need of some Dot Day inspo? Then check out this lesson plan! It's one I have used with students as young as kindergarten for years!

Need some more Dot Day inspo? I created a blog post of my 14 very favorite Dot Day lessons which pair perfectly with this here round paper! You can find them all here. 

And, of course, if you need a good book on SHAPE to reinforce all things dotty and round, then don't forget to check out my book Alfred the Ape Knows his Shapes!

Why You NEED Modeling Clay in your Art Room!

When I first started teaching my art room had NOTHING in it but a bowling pin, a Leonardo da Vinci board game with the pieces missing, a coffee can of broken crayons and...a TON of modeling clay. I cast the clay aside not thinking I'd ever have use for it. But when my curriculum called for a "clay unit"...and I had no kiln and no budget, this stuff came in super handy. Turns out, my students and I loved it and used it to explore more than just sculpting. It became a vital tool for learning lines, shape, texture and more. Here's how:

I love using modeling clay for early finishers, lesson review, preview to sculpture and more! I created these clay sheets just for you! Please feel free to use them in your art room. 

Also, I know a lot of you need to turn in lesson plans. My friends at Prang created one for you! You can download it here!

To purchase your modeling clay, here's what I'm using. 

Here you go:

This is a great sheet to use to introduce clay to your students! You can find all of these downloads here. 

I use this sheet after introducing line or when I'm doing a line review with my students. Of course, I read my book Larry the Line and this follow-up activity ties in perfectly! You can find my book Larry the Line here. 

I'm closing in on nearly 200 five-star reviews of my book Larry the Line! I love to see Larry in your art rooms...thank you so much! Get yourself a copy here.

Once my students learn about lines, we move on to shape...so I created these sheets so students can see how to use lines to create shapes. These sheets can be found here!

Of course, my book Alfred the Ape Knows his Shapes is the perfect companion to these shape sheets.

You can pick up a copy of Alfred the Ape Knows his Shapes here!

Thanks, y'all! Enjoy!

Let's Celebrate Vincent van Gogh: My Fave Van Gogh Art Lessons!

Hello, friends! 

Sunday, March 30th was Vincent van Gogh's birthday! I love Vincent and the story of his life. He was one of my favorite artists to share in the art room. When I was writing my book Find Your Way, a decide-your-direction art adventure, I knew I wanted to include van Gogh. I wrote Find Your Way to read to my students while they worked...and they were always fascinated with his artwork and his life. 

In case you are not familiar with my book, YOU are the main character in the book as the events unfold in real time. It all begins, as most adventures do, in the art room. The reader decides which art adventure to take. When I read this book to my students, we voted on which adventures to go on...and they loved it! I share much more about reading this book to my students here. 

In honor of this amazing artist, I thought I'd put together some of my favorite Vincent-inspired art lessons. I also created two FREE downloads just for you and your students to go with their very favorite van Gogh lesson...a James Rizzi and van Gogh mashup!

The complete lesson with instructional video can be found here. As for the free downloads, just tap the links below the illustrations!

Find the front of the drawing sheet here.

And the back of the sheet here! 

I always keep sheets like these in sheet protectors because...these kids are messy! You can find the sheet with the silly faces and more details on the lesson here. 

Since spring is here, doing a Vincent van Gogh inspired cherry blossom painting might be fun too! I have that lesson available here. 

I'm a big ole fan of Charley Harper so this lesson brings him and Vincent together in one super cute and fun lesson. Details with video here. 

There for a while, I was really into crafting this massive masterpiece murals with my students. They are a lot of fun...but a lot of work. When they come together...it's amazing! You can find details on this second grade Starry Night here. 

Of course, mark making and brushstrokes are always important to chat about when learning about van Gogh. This second grade lesson focused on that while also talking about warm and cool colors.

Here's what the painting exploration looked like after the first day.

And here's our final touches with India ink. Full lesson here. 

These second grade Super Hero Selfies were always a favorite lesson...it's one we did EVERY year! The sky was inspired by, you guessed it! Van Gogh! Lesson details here. 

Van Gogh also inspired my creations! I created this needle felted light up Starry Night dress and a Sunflowers sweater all thanks to him.

Most recently, I even made some buttons for a sweater and earrings...both from polymer clay. Lesson how-to here.  

I'll leave ya with another illustration from my book Find Your Way! The book features 7 different artists, over 80 illustrations, 32 different endings, a biography of each artist and a project inspired by each artist too! It was a labor of love...I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine did!